Bell: NFL can finally tuck away horrible rule

Mar. 14, 2013
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New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) loses the ball after being brought down by Oakland Raiders' Charles Woodson, right, while Greg Biekert (54) moves to recover the ball in the fourth quarter of their AFC Division Playoff game in Foxboro, Mass. Saturday night, Jan. 19, 2002. The play was overruled, and the Patriots retained possession. / Elise Amendola, AP

by Jarrett Bell, USA TODAY Sports

by Jarrett Bell, USA TODAY Sports

It's possible even the most ardent follower of pro football had no clue there was something called the "Tuck Rule" when Oakland Raiders cornerback Charles Woodson bolted through the snow and crashed into a former Michigan teammate, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, during a dramatic AFC divisional playoff game Jan. 19, 2002.

Al Davis went to his grave knowing it was a fumble. Millions watching on TV knew it was a fumble. Shoot, Brady himself thought it was a fumble. Yet referee Walt Coleman came back from an instant replay review and pretty much introduced "The Tuck Rule" to America.

Brady had pulled the ball back toward his body after a pump fake when it was knocked away. The Raiders fell on the ball and appeared to have iced a 13-10 win in the snow in Foxborough, Mass. But Brady and the Pats were protected by one of the most mysterious and controversial rules in NFL history, so there was no fumble. It was, by rule, an incomplete pass. Amid uproar and confusion, the Patriots went on to win their first of three Super Bowl crowns.

Fast-forward to Thursday. The competition committee dropped a whale of surprise in announcing it has proposed that league owners eliminate the Tuck Rule.

They finally got it right.

Imagine how this news is going over at Raiders headquarters.

Amy Trask, the franchise's chief executive, raised in the business by Davis, text-messaged: "Can't share my reaction with you - it involved just an itty bitty bit of language highly inappropriate for your paper."

The Raiders lost that game in overtime 16-13, after Adam Vinatieri booted game-tying and game-winning field goals through a snowstorm at Foxboro Stadium. It was last NFL game for three accomplished veterans - Eric Allen, Steve Wisniewski and William Thomas. It was Jon Gruden's last game as Raiders coach.

"I'll never forget walking into that locker room after the game - in disbelief," Gruden said in a call with USA TODAY Sports on Thursday.

Gruden got worked up recalling that loss and the impact of the Tuck Rule, which owners can eliminate with 24 votes next week during league meetings in Phoenix.

"I wish you didn't call me, man," Gruden said. "It's not pleasant. I don't have anything good to say about the Tuck Rule, or the interpretation of that rule that night. I thought instant replay was to overturn an obvious mistake. To have a playoff game decided in the 60th minute by a rule that no one had ever heard of was quite ridiculous."

Gruden says the loss changed his life. It certainly altered NFL history.

That Davis didn't live long enough to cast a ballot on the rule doesn't seem right. The iconic owner, whose legendary battles with the league included taking fellow owners to court over his decision to relocate his franchise to Los Angeles, would have been a hoot.

In addition to calling for tweaks in the name of safety (banning peel-back blocks and running backs ramming head-first with their helmets as a weapon), the competition committee also will propose fixing a silly part of the challenge system that nullifies an instant replay review if a coach wrongly throws his red flag.

Detroit Lions coach Jim Schwartz may have cost his team a game on Thanksgiving when he threw his flag to protest an 81-yard touchdown run by Houston Texans running back Justin Forsett. Replays showed the play should have been whistled dead after a few yards because Forsett's knee clearly had touched the turf.

The penalty for coaching brain-lock was instituted last year as part of the replay tweak that required all scoring plays and turnovers to be reviewed. The idea was that unnecessary challenges would delay the game, but it came at the cost of allowing obvious blunders to stand.

If it passes, coaches who challenge when they shouldn't will be subject to a 15-yard penalty, but officials still will be allowed - by rule, mind you - to reverse a call on replay.

The challenge rule glitch is new, but the Tuck Rule has been debated for years by rule-makers. Chairman Rich McKay, the Atlanta Falcons president, said the committee ultimately was swayed by two factors: the confusion of the rule and that the play almost always is a fumble.

"It's about time," Gruden said. "They should have chucked the Tuck Rule a long time ago. I feel like celebrating. I might put this phone down, march down the street and scream."